NYCLA Receives Generous Funding From Booth Ferris Foundation to Expand New York City Network

July 9, 2015

The NYC Leadership Academy (NYCLA) is thrilled to share that we have received a $250,000, two-year grant from the Booth Ferris Foundation to expand our NYC Programs Alumni Association. The objective of this comprehensive initiative is to galvanize our Aspiring Principals Program alumni and coached principals - past and present - to be change agents around the topic of educational equity, with a particular focus on New York City’s boys of color.

The opportunity gap between Black and Latino males and their peers is a well-documented and persistent national problem that pervades educational systems. In comparison to their white peers, black males are twice as likely to drop out of high school, are more likely to attend under-resourced and low-performing schools, and are less likely to obtain college degrees.

Our alumni and coachees, the majority of whom serve as principals, principal supervisors and central office personnel in the New York City Department of Education, have proven themselves capable of transforming schools. It is our commitment to support them in their efforts to better serve the city’s Black and Latino male students.

Over the course of the two-year grant, we will host a series of professional learning opportunities, invite experts in the field to share their research and best practices in this area, and launch an online community. We will also provide mini-grants to a select group of alumni to implement promising practices in their schools.

We are grateful to the Booth Ferris Foundation for its commitment to our equity agenda and look forward to sharing further updates as this timely and important initiative unfolds.